Welcome to our Ontario Office! The Wilderness Committee began working in Ontario in the early 90s with a chapter of concerned citizens in Ottawa looking to speak up for wilderness and wildlife on the doorstep of Canada’s parliament. Back then we were fighting phase two of the James Bay hydroelectric-power development. We established our Toronto office in the mid-90s and a door-to-door canvass to spread the word and garner support for our work protecting wild places. This canvass has expanded to other municipalities and now thousands of Ontario residents have joined our movement to protect wilderness and wildlife and fight for a healthy climate. 

We are on the ground working to defend endangered species, from wild pollinators like bees to the elusive boreal woodland caribou. We advocate for stronger and well-enforced federal species at risk legislation and have won precedent-setting legal victories when the legislation isn't followed. On the heels of massive bee and wild pollinator deaths in 2013 linked to the use of neonicotinoid (neonics) pesticides on corn and soybean crops in Ontario and Quebec, we strive to ban these harmful products. Our Ontario parks defence campaign takes us on the ground in Algonquin provincial park as the last Ontario park being desecrated by commercial logging. Our work for a safe climate supports transitioning to a low-carbon economy and fighting against damaging, carbon-intensive industries. 

Please join us in our work! Scroll down to take action; and volunteerdonate, or shop online for eco-gifts, cards and calendars.

Our Campaigns

You and I know there’s no shortage of work to do on behalf of endangered wilderness and wildlife in this province. None are better suited to continue creating a wilder Ontario than the Wilderness Committee - in a partnership with you! Support boots on the ground! Threats to wilderness and wildlife in Ontario — as well...

Defending the nature found in provincial parks in the lands now called Ontario is our responsibility to future generations — old-growth forests and freshwater lakes are an incredible destination for us to visit and gain solace. Algonquin Provincial Park was the first park in Ontario but it is also the most at risk park in the province, as almost two-thirds of Algonquin Provincial Park is designated for industrial logging.
Two bumblebees on a pink flower
Photo: Chris Bidleman

A specific class of pesticides called neonicotinoids (neonics) are harmful to bees and it’s slowly being recognized and banned, all over the world but Canada still hasn’t banned this harmful pesticide. Bees may be small, but the impact they have on our environment – and our daily lives – is immense.

Caribou are an iconic species, featured prominently on Canada’s 25-cent coin. Boreal woodland caribou are a variety of caribou, related to the caribou living in the north. Boreal caribou live in forests, and travel much shorter distances every year, if at all.

For years, we’ve stood up for a healthy climate in Canada by opposing new fossil fuel infrastructure. But parallel to this fight is to create a vision for the communities we want to live in.

A polar bear walks across ice
Photo: Mike Grandmaison
Studies show over 50 per cent of wildlife species across Canada are experiencing population declines. How can this be happening if we have a federal Species at Risk Act (SARA) that is supposed to protect them?
Healthy freshwater is a provider, both for us and for nature. The plants that we rely on for food and shelter need clean water, animals need water, and freshwater fisheries are a sustaining part of Indigenous peoples. We need clean drinking water for ourselves and use water to keep our households and cities clean and sanitary. The land we live on and care for is filled with freshwater. It is our responsibility to care for it.
Wilderness Committee Ontario educates and advocates for stronger provincial climate action including stopping urban sprawl, phasing out gas-fired electricity and supporting investment in public transportation and nature-based solutions.
Protecting more nature from urban development and destructive industries such as mining and logging is essential to safeguard our future in the face of the global climate crisis and accelerating biodiversity loss.
The world is facing a biodiversity crisis. Habitat loss and climate change are pushing more than a million species towards extinction. Wilderness Committee Ontario is committed to exposing the deficiencies in the current ESA regulations, advocating for even stronger laws, and supporting grassroots efforts to oppose projects that threaten at-risk species and their habitats.
Many of our environmental policies are the hard-earned result of grassroots community advocacy and reflect the values of the majority of Ontarians. At the same time, they are always at risk of erosion by the powerful corporate interests of developers and industry and require constant vigilance to maintain and evaluate.
Contact us

Ontario Office
207 - 425 Queen Street W.
Toronto, ON
Traditional territory of Mississaugas of the Credit, Anishnaabeg, Chippewa, Haudenosaunee and Wendat
M5V 2A5

(416) 849-6520 

Hours: Monday to Thursday, 9am - 4pm. No public hours, call to make an appointment.

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